movie download servicehttp://www.maximumpc.com/taxonomy/term/2086/
enXbox Live Marketplacehttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/xbox_live_marketplace
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="401" height="206">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="/files/u22018/xbox.png" width="410" height="162" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>The only way to play videos from the Xbox Marketplace is with your Xbox 360; any hard-drive-equipped 360 can download and play them. </strong>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
It turns out that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is good for more than just playing games and streaming the occasional transcoded video file. Indeed, the game console can also be a source of movie and TV-episode downloads using Microsoft’s online store, Xbox 360 Marketplace.
</p>
<p>
Unlike most of the other services we tested, Marketplace doesn’t have a PC component. You rent movies using the Xbox’s interface and the videos are downloaded directly to the Xbox’s hard drive, where all the standard rules apply: You have 30 days to begin viewing and 24 hours to finish once you start. Of course, you’ll need a network-connected, hard drive-equipped Xbox 360 to play. And you should know that the browsing interface uses the Xbox’s standard design, which isn’t exactly “mom” friendly. TV content is for purchase only and typically costs $2 per episode. Each network’s key programming—think <em>Lost</em> and <em>CSI</em>—is available in high def for an extra buck, but don’t expect to see much from NBC here.
</p>
<p>
There isn’t a massive library of back content available—the service featured fewer than 400 movies as we went to press. In our catalog tests, Marketplace fared OK in the new-releases department, offering the same titles you’d have to fight over at the video store. It didn’t fare as well with classic and cult titles, but the good news is that much of the content for sale is also available in high definition. Like the other services that use WMV technology, videos rented from Marketplace suffer from the soft edges and large file sizes common to the codec. Standard-def movies look slightly worse than traditional DVDs, and the high-def content is noticeably inferior to Blu-ray.
</p>
<p>
For whatever insane reason, Microsoft chose to base the payment scheme for Marketplace around Microsoft Points, which have an extremely confusing conversion scheme. One dollar buys you 80 points, and each movie rental costs 360 points for standard-definition files and 480 points for high definition. For folks who have trouble with math, SD movies cost $4.50, while HD films cost $6. That makes SD movies on Xbox Live Marketplace pricier than the competition, but HD content is on par with Vudu’s prices for 1080p content. What’s more annoying is that you can’t buy just the number of points that you need. Instead, you have to buy points in multiples of $5. So, to rent a movie for $6, you need to buy at least $10 worth of points. Lame. Points are tied to your Xbox Gamertag. Assuming you have the points to make the purchase, click the purchase button and the video will start downloading. As soon as the Xbox has sufficiently filled its buffer, the content will begin playing.
</p>
<p>
Like the other WMV-powered services, Marketplace could use a codec refresh. Despite the outdated codec, this is one of the few services that actually delivers HD content. We’d also like to be able to play downloaded content on portable devices and our PCs. That just seems like a natural option, especially given the rich ecosystem that Microsoft has built for media playback. Finally, we’d really like to see a lot more content on the service. Three hundred movies and change just isn’t enough for serious movie buffs.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Hardware:</strong> $350<br />
<strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $4 to $6<br />
<strong>Movie purchases:</strong> N/A<strong><br />
TV episodes:</strong> $2
</p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C1">Conspicuously Missing &gt;</a><br />
</h4>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/xbox_live_marketplace#commentsHardwareMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwarewmvxboxXbox 360xbox liveSoftware2008May 2008Media StreamingReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 22:00:50 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2092 at http://www.maximumpc.comVuduhttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/vudu
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="396" height="315">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong><img src="/files/u22018/vudu.png" width="410" height="270" /><br /> </strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Vudu offers an attractive industrial design, but it stays cool enough that you can hide it in the depths of your entertainment center. <br /> </strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> Vudu delivers more HD content than any other service, but achieving that image quality requires you to purchase a $300 box that can’t be truly integrated into the rest of your home network (meaning you can’t stream the content downloaded to it from one room to another). And the company currently has HD licensing deals with only Lionsgate, Paramount, and Universal; the rest of its offerings are limited to standard definition. </p>
<p> Seduced by what we thought was terrific image quality, we spent a long honeymoon with the Vudu. The box is cool and extremely quiet (it had no issues with being tucked inside our entertainment center), the intuitive user interface is superior to any of the web-based alternatives, and the custom remote control is sheer genius. Vudu encodes the films it offers in a proprietary flavor of MPEG-4, and the box downloads films in the highest resolution your display will support (from 480i to 1080p). But since the Vudu’s 1080p output is timed at 24 frames per second (to match the original film), the box had to drop down to 1080i in order to be compatible with our ViewSonic N4285p television (which can display 1080p, but only at a refresh rate of 30Hz or 60Hz). </p>
<p> But our newlywed bliss evaporated when we finally compared the downloaded HD versions of movies played on the Vudu box to the same films played on the Blu-ray drive in our home-theater PC: Vudu’s versions offered significantly less detail. Video image quality was leagues beyond the soft-edged offerings on tap from the standard-definition services, but it wasn’t nearly as good as what we saw on the disc. </p>
<p> Movie buffs should also bear in mind that movies encoded in high definition make for much larger files than what the other services have to offer. Vudu, like all the other services reviewed here, uses a progressive download system, so you don’t need to download the entire movie before you begin watching it. But if your broadband Internet connection is 1.5Mb/s or slower, you will experience a significant delay—it could be an hour or more—before you’ve grabbed enough of the file to start. Vudu recommends having at least a 2Mb/s connection for standard-definition movies and a 4Mb/s connection for HD content. </p>
<p> Vudu offers movies for rent and purchase and TV shows for purchase. The service operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, but your credit card is billed in $20, $50, or $100 increments, as opposed to the per-transaction basis that the other services operate on. Movies downloaded to the Vudu’s 250GB hard drive are stuck there; they can’t be burned to disc (even for backup purposes), streamed across a network using a Media Center Extender, or transferred to a portable device. Vudu tells us its customers will be able to re-download purchased movies in the event of a hard-drive failure or other catastrophe. </p>
<p> Vudu’s back catalog listed three of the AFI’s top 25 movies for sale (Lawrence of Arabia, Psycho, and Chinatown), but it didn’t offer any of them for rent. Reservoir Dogs (available for $10) was the only movie on our list of cult classics we could find for sale or rent. </p>
<p> At press time, the Vudu box was about $50 cheaper than the least-expensive Blu-ray drive and about half the price of a Blu-ray-equipped DIY home-theater rig, but is the instant gratification of watching a movie without having to go to the store (and hoping it’s in stock) or waiting for it to show up from Netflix (with the same caveat) worth knowing that the image quality is worse than what you would get from a disc? We’re not so sure the trade-off is worthwhile. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> <strong>Hardware:</strong> $300<br /> <strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $4 to $6<br /> <strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $10 to $20 <strong><br /> TV episodes:</strong> $2 </p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/xbox_live_marketplace">Xbox Live Arcade &gt;</a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/vudu#commentsHardwareHardwarehdhigh definitionMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwarevuduSoftware2008May 2008Media StreamingReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 22:00:24 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2091 at http://www.maximumpc.comVongohttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/vongo
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="400" height="318">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="/files/u22018/media_center_extend.png" width="410" height="273" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Vongo movies can be streamed to your TV using any Windows Media Center Extender device, including the Linksys DMA2200. </strong>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
Vongo’s subscription business model puts it in a category all its own: The service’s primary focus is to provide an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of movies and other video content that can be downloaded to your PC for a $10 monthly fee. It doesn’t offer any for-purchase content, and its TV offerings are nearly nonexistent.
</p>
<p>
Vongo is a division of Starz Entertainment, which has contracts with all the major Hollywood movie studios for semi-exclusive access to their films—but only after those movies have played out in theaters, the pay-per-view market, and as disc sales. Starz offers the same films on cable TV. A Vongo representative tells us these contracts cover about 40 percent of all Hollywood movies released in the last nine years. HBO is in a similar position, but that firm doesn’t currently offer a download service.
</p>
<p>
When we compared Vongo’s movie library to the rest of the field, we did indeed find that Vongo had many movies to offer that could not be rented online anywhere else. CinemaNow, Movielink, and others had them available for sale, but not for rent. And with Vongo, you can watch the content as often as you like—or for at least as long as Vongo has the right to offer it.
</p>
<p>
There is no free lunch, however, especially not in Hollywood: When we looked to Vongo for 25 of the latest releases, we found only one that was covered by the monthly subscription price and only one other that was available on a pay-per-view basis. Vongo also doesn’t have much in the way of classic films (nothing from the AFI’s top 25 list, for instance), and we didn’t find any of our 10 cult classics in its listings. We did find some other gems, including <em>Dr. Strangelove</em>, <em>From Dusk Till Dawn</em>, and a host of low-brow offerings from Troma Entertainment (the studio that brought you <em>Toxic Avenger</em>).
</p>
<p>
You’ll need to download the Vongo client in order to browse the service’s library, download content, and watch previews. The application has a search engine that enables you to find content by title, actor/director, category, format (standard or widescreen), MPAA/TV rating, language, and device (PC or portable). You can also search for subscription content, pay-per-view titles, or both.
</p>
<p>
Vongo’s movie and (limited) TV offerings are delivered in the equivalent of standard definition (roughly 480i or 480p, dependent on your display) in WMV format. Video quality, as scaled by the Radeon 3850 videocard in our home-theater rig to our 42-inch ViewSonic N4285p TV, was very good. Being limited to standard definition isn’t a major shortcoming now (since most of the movies in Vongo’s library predate HD video anyway), but it will become a drawback as today’s new releases are remastered for Blu-ray before making their way into Vongo’s library.
</p>
<p>
Downloaded content can be streamed over a Windows Media Center Extender to a TV (assuming you have a version of Windows that includes Media Center), but Vongo’s 10-foot user interface is also integrated into versions of Vista that include Windows Media Center. This means you can use a Media Center remote to control the Vongo client.
</p>
<p>
Like your movies on the go? Vongo’s service can be used on as many as three devices simultaneously. One of these must be a PC, but the other two can be either PCs or Vongo-certified portable video players (including the Archos 605 WiFi, Creative Labs’s Zen Vision: M, and Toshiba’s Gigabeat V.)
</p>
<p>
If you can wait a year or so for movies to filter through the system and into the Starz library, $10 per month for all the movies you can watch is a great deal. We’re not that patient, although we were reminded of a number of films that we’d forgotten to watch when they were new—and now they can’t be rented from the other services.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
<strong>Subscription:</strong> $10/month<br />
<strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $1 to $4<br />
<strong>Movie purchases:</strong> N/A<br />
<strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2
</p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/vudu">Vudu &gt;</a><br />
</h4>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/vongo#commentsconsumer electronicsHardwareMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwaresubscriptionWindows Media CenterSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 22:00:01 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2088 at http://www.maximumpc.comMovielinkhttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/movielink
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="376" height="170">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="/files/u22018/media_center_remote.png" width="410" height="112" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Movielink software client is integrated into both versions of Windows Media Center, so you can easily watch your rentals from the comfort of your couch, using an MCE-compatible remote. </strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> Movie-rental outfit Blockbuster Entertainment acquired movie-download service Movielink in August 2007, but the company seems to have lost interest in its latest asset. When we contacted Blockbuster’s corporate communications department in preparation for this story, they couldn’t be bothered to provide us with Movielink’s phone number (which wasn’t listed on either company’s website). It’s easy to see why. </p>
<p> The fact that Movielink is integrated into Windows Media Center gives it a leg up over BitTorrent, but there’s nothing else about the service to recommend it over CinemaNow or any of the other services we tested. And if you’re interested in watching rented or purchased movies on a handheld device, Movielink isn’t for you—it supports only notebooks. Oh, and Movielink doesn’t support Firefox either, unless you install the Firefox add-on IE Tab. Now that’s just lazy. </p>
<p> Movielink’s catalog is comparable to that of CinemaNow, Unbox, and Vudu. Movie rentals and TV episode prices are the same as the competition’s ($2 and $4, respectively), but like the rest of the field, its movie purchase prices were $5 higher than Unbox across the board. The search engine in the Movielink Manager client enables you to locate films by category (including Coming Soon, Last Chance, and Award Winners, as well as by genre, director, actor, or keyword). Searches can be limited to rentals only, purchase only, or both. Movielink does have a cult cinema category, but Office Space was the only movie available from our list. It did have some other good catches, however, including Roger Corman’s <em>Bucket of Blood</em>, David Cronenberg’s <em>Videodrome</em>, and the blaxploitation classic <em>Foxy Brown</em>. </p>
<p> You can play downloaded content on up to three PCs, make backup copies on DVD (in their original format, which won’t play on a standard DVD player), and stream from a PC to your TV using a Media Center Extender (using either Vista or Windows XP). All of Movielink’s videos are in WMV format and in standard definition, so they suffer from many of the same scaling problems as the rest of the SD field. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> <strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $3 to $4<br /> <strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $8 to $20<br /> <strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2 </p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/vongo">Vongo &gt;</a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/movielink#commentsblockbusterMedia ApplicationsMedia Center Extendermovie download serviceSoftwareWindows Media CenterSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:59:51 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2087 at http://www.maximumpc.comiTunes Storehttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/itunes_store
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="355" height="259">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <img src="/files/u22018/apple_tv.png" width="410" height="200" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Apple TV sure looks sexy, but it doesn’t even include the basic cables you need to hook it up to a TV. Where’s the 10-cent component-video cable, Apple?</strong> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> Apple’s tight connection with Disney (owner of the ABC television network and Pixar animation studio), its support for high-definition H.264 video, and a slick set-top box for playing your favorite TV shows and movies in your living room, render the iTunes Store an attractive proposition for home-theater enthusiasts. Too bad its video is limited to 720p. </p>
<p> But let’s start with what we like. The video quality of content on the iTunes Store is superior to all the WMV services (although Vongo’s quality is pretty good), which we mainly attribute to Apple’s use of H.264. High-definition files look very good and, unlike many of the other services we tested, were noticeably superior to standard-definition DVD quality, although the lower-bit-rate downloads still fall noticeably short of the quality offered by Blu-ray discs. </p>
<p> Naturally, all this comes at a price: Standard-def movies rent for the going rate of $4, but HD rentals cost $5. The big problem with iTunes’s current HD playback is that it works only with the Apple TV; you can’t view high-def content via your PC. TV shows cost $2 per episode to own, but you’ll get a better deal if you purchase an entire season of episodes. For people who watch only a few TV series each season, buying the downloads could be a better deal than paying for cable TV—if you don’t mind the low resolution. </p>
<p> Watching downloaded video on your PC is all well and good, if you live in a dorm or have a 40-inch monitor. How does iTunes work when you want to watch your purchased or rented video on a TV or on the go? Reasonably well, as long as you purchase Apple gear. Rented movies work with any current-gen iPhone or iPod (5th-gen and older iPod users are out of luck) and follow the same basic rules as all the other services we’ve tested: You have 30 days to start watching and 24 hours to finish. </p>
<p> If your PC isn’t in your living room, you’ll need to buy an Apple TV, which will enable you to stream music and photos as well as content you rent or purchase from iTunes. You can either set it up to make a straight copy of your iTunes library or stream the file in iTunes across your network. Copying media to the Apple TV means it will always be available whether or not your PC is powered up, but this will rapidly fill the device’s small drive (40GB or 160GB). As you’d expect from an Apple product, the interface is slick and the purchasing experience is simple—it easily passes the “mom” test. Movie playback starts as soon as the buffer is sufficiently filled, and you can fast-forward, rewind, and skip to chapters using the included remote. Because the Apple TV uses purely passive cooling, it’s important to make sure you leave plenty of room around it. And don’t place anything on top of it—it doesn’t like that. (See In the Lab on page 72 for more info on the Apple TV.) </p>
<p> The biggest problem with iTunes right now is its catalog. While there are tons of TV shows (nothing from NBC or Universal, but ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, and many cable channels are well represented), the movie selection is paltry and even new releases were showing up a week or more later than they were on the other services we tested (that might change as time goes on). And if the standard-definition content is sparse, the HD content is nearly nonexistent. Only seven titles on our list of 25 new releases were available for rent in HD. That’s better than the two HD titles Vudu had to offer; on the other hand, Vudu had 18 of our 25 new releases available for rent, compared to iTunes’s 10. Apple didn’t have any HD titles available for purchase (Vudu had two)—not that we’d recommend that, given the current state of iTunes DRM. </p>
<p> Our verdict may change with time, but for now, there simply aren’t enough titles to consider the iTunes Store a serious rental competitor. </p>
<p> <strong>Hardware:</strong> $230 and up<br /> <strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $2 to $5<br /> <strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $10 to $15<br /> <strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2 </p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/movielink">Movielink &gt;</a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/itunes_store#commentsapplehdiPoditunesMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwareSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:59:27 +0000Michael Brown Will Smith2085 at http://www.maximumpc.comCinemaNowhttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/cinemanow
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="380" height="276">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="/files/u22018/media_center.png" width="410" height="231" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>CinemaNow is aggressive about servicing a broad variety of hardware, including portable devices and Media Center PCs, like this Asus Minuet. </strong> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> CinemaNow offers newly released movies on the same pay-per-view model that most of the other services here (with the exception of Vongo) use, but the service also sells a limited collection of movies that can be downloaded and burned to a DVD that can be played anywhere. CinemaNow’s optional subscription service allows unlimited downloads, but these titles cannot be burned. </p>
<p> We can’t imagine who would spend $30 per month (or pay just $100 for an entire year!) to watch the less-than-B movies that CinemaNow has on tap (<em>Addicted to Murder II: Tainted Blood</em>, <em>Planet of the Werewolf</em>, <em>Backyard Fight Clubs Volume III</em>). If the free content on YouPorn leaves you less than satisfied, on the other hand, membership in CinemaNow’s Platinum Club also entitles you to unlimited access to AllAdultChannel.com. </p>
<p> The service’s burn-to-DVD offerings range in price from $9 to $20, and we found many of Hollywood’s better, if not exactly fresh, offerings (including <em>Reservoir Dogs</em>, <em>Requiem for a Dream</em>, and <em>Secretary</em>) selling for just $10. But why bother downloading movies and burning them to a disc when you can buy them factory-pressed for nearly the same price? Besides, most of the other films we found in this category are much less appealing than those cult faves (anyone in the mood for a Sinbad comedy special?). You can burn any other purchased movie to disc, but only as a backup data file—the discs will not play on standard DVD drives or players. </p>
<p> CinemaNow’s rental model is much more typical, with pay-per-view movies going for between $2 and $4 (with new releases such as <em>Michael Clayton</em> and <em>Rendition</em> priced at the higher end of that range). The service had 16 of our top 25 new releases available for rent and 19 available for purchase. Customers have a 24-hour window to watch the movie within 30 days of downloading it. New releases available for purchase averaged $20 each. These titles cannot be burned to disc, but they can be viewed on up to three devices, including PlaysForSure handhelds. </p>
<p> As with the other services, CinemaNow was much lighter on classic content and had only three of the AFI’s top 25 films available for rent (<em>Psycho</em>, <em>On the Waterfront</em>, and <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>). <em>Office Space</em> was the only one of our cult favorites available for rent; that and <em>Reservoir Dogs</em> were the only films on that list available for sale. </p>
<p> CinemaNow has some TV content for sale ($2 per episode), which can be transferred to portable devices but cannot be burned to disc. We found much of Fox TV’s programming (including <em>24</em> and <em>The Family Guy</em>, but not <em>The Simpsons</em>), several of Showtime’s original series (such as <em>Brotherhood</em> but not <em>Dexter</em>), and a handful of classic TV shows from the 1960s (including <em>Time Tunnel</em> and <em>I Spy</em>). </p>
<p> CinemaNow is integrated into both versions of Windows Media Center (XP and Vista) and content can be streamed to your TV using a Media Center Extender. The service has also been integrated into HP’s MediaSmart LCD TVs, which have integrated network-streaming hardware. Movies and TV episodes are delivered in WMV format at the equivalent of standard definition (640x480 resolution). When we scaled video up on our home-theater PC, we noticed significant compression artifacts in shadows and dark skies, a problem we experienced with every WMV-based service except Vongo. As with most of the other services reviewed here, we judged video quality to be less than what you would get from a DVD. </p>
<p> We can’t recommend CinemaNow’s subscription service at any price, and its movie offerings are about the same as the rest of the field’s (both in terms of price and the depth of its catalog). The service does earn points for supporting multiple PCs and portable devices and for being integrated into both versions of Windows Media Center. But the bar set by the competing services is pretty low. </p>
<p> <strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $2 to $4<br /> <strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $9 to $20<br /> <strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2 </p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/itunes_store">iTunes Store &gt;</a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/cinemanow#commentscinemanowMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwareWindows Media CenterSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:59:07 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2083 at http://www.maximumpc.comBitTorrenthttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/bittorrent
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="175" align="right">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="/sites/future.p2technology.com/files/imce-images/pc.png" width="175" height="206" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>BitTorrent isn’t integrated with Windows Media Center and the service doesn’t offer a 10-foot user interface of its own, so it’s best experienced on a desktop PC. </strong> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> Most readers will be familiar with the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, which earned a somewhat notorious reputation as the tool of choice for people sharing large copyrighted files—particularly Hollywood movies—over the Internet. Bram Cohen, the programmer who originally created the protocol, has since founded BitTorrent, Inc. to exploit legal applications for his product. Movie downloads are one. </p>
<p> The beauty of the BitTorrent protocol is that no one person needs to bear the entire cost of hosting huge files, such as movies; instead, each existing recipient of the file supplies chunks of the data to newer recipients. That model works exceedingly well for those who need to host the file, but we’re not quite sure how consumers paying for downloadable content benefit. </p>
<p> BitTorrent offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, and other content for rent or purchase; it also offers some advertising-supported content. Purchased titles can be viewed on up to two computers, but rented titles can be viewed only on the PC they were originally downloaded to. Purchased movies can be burned to disc, but the disc can be played only on PCs that you’ve “activated” by signing into your BitTorrent account. BitTorrent does not permit purchased files to be transferred to portable devices, which we view as a major shortcoming. </p>
<p> What’s worse is that the BitTorrent user interface is not integrated into either version of Windows Media Center, which makes it nearly impossible to browse the site’s content from the comfort of your couch. In fact, the only way to search the service’s library is to use the primitive tools on its website. This matters little if you’re watching movies on your desktop PC, but it’s a real pain if you’re using a home-theater PC or streaming content to a Media Center Extender. </p>
<p> BitTorrent offers downloadable videos in both SD and HD and in WMV, H.264, and MPEG-4 formats, but the Hollywood offerings we sampled were all SD WMV files (with all the image-quality issues inherent to that format). We also found BitTorrent’s prime movie library to be thinner than average, with only eight of our 25 new-release searches available for rent and nine available for sale. We found only two of our favorite cult films in the library: Office Space (for rent and for sale) and Reservoir Dogs (for sale only), but we did encounter some great horror films offered for free, which can be moved and burned to disc without restrictions. </p>
<p> It’s definitely worth searching BitTorrent’s library for unusual and free content, but the service has nothing to offer over the other services reviewed here. </p>
<p> <strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $3 to $4<br /> <strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $10 to $20<br /> <strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2 </p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/cinemanow">CinemaNow &gt;</a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/bittorrent#commentsbittorrentMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwaretorrentSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:58:46 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2082 at http://www.maximumpc.comAmazon Unboxhttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/amazon_unbox
<!--paging_filter--><table border="0" width="412" height="163">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong><img src="/files/u22018/tivo.png" width="410" height="120" /><br />
</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>One of Unbox’s strengths is its tight integration with TiVo. You can queue movies for download to your TiVo from any PC.<br />
</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
If you’re like us, you’ve bought a lot of traditional media, be it DVDs, CDs, or—gasp!—books, from Amazon.com over the years yet have downloaded little or no content from its digital stores. After spending some time with Unbox—Amazon’s relatively new movie and TV download service—we’re about ready to start using it regularly. With a broad selection of inexpensive content and an easy and cheap way to get Unbox content to your living room, we initially thought this would be the service to beat—despite a complete lack of HD content.
</p>
<p>
Rental prices range from $3 to $4; purchases range from less than $10 to around $15. As with the other services, we wouldn’t recommend purchasing downloadable movies—given the usage restrictions—but Amazon does make some allowances to fair use: Your purchase lets you download a TiVo-friendly file, a PC-friendly file, and a file that’s optimized for PlaysForSure portable players. If you’re browsing the web interface, there’s even a handy chart on every page that tells you the aspect ratio, audio format, and file size for each of the different formats. We’d rather just buy an unencumbered DVD, but this is among the most consumer-friendly services we tested.
</p>
<p>
Unbox’s PC software is unremarkable and a little buggy. It handles the file downloads and playback for both PCs and mobile devices. As with all the other services we examined, it operates on a progressive-download model that enables you to begin watching the movie while the download is in progress (as soon as it grabs enough data to fill its buffer). Unbox’s integration with TiVo, however, sets it apart from the competition. Using any network-connected Series2 or Series3 TiVo (Series2 boxes can be found for around $100), you can watch rented or purchased movies on your big-screen TV. (But you’ll have to wait for the entire file to be downloaded first; progressive download isn’t available on the TiVo.)
</p>
<p>
You can also purchase content directly from your TiVo using the remote. The TiVo ordering interface isn’t bad, but we prefer the extra information Amazon provides through the web browser. Once you make your purchase, you can choose to start downloading to your PC or send the file to your TiVo. We’d like to see support for high-definition content, but Amazon needs to switch to a more efficient codec before that will work—even standard-def movies are larger than 2GB.
</p>
<p>
The content library is impressive, with good coverage in new releases as well as a decent number of classic titles and cult classics; the price is right, too. We’re fond of Unbox, but it’s certainly not perfect. The service uses WMV, which leaves a lot to be desired in the image-quality department. The video we downloaded was decent but a bit soft, similar to that of the other WMV-powered services we tested and clearly inferior to the quality of video we downloaded from the iTunes Store, which was itself inferior to DVDs.
</p>
<p>
Still, we wouldn’t say the video quality from Unbox was unacceptable, and combined with its easy method for getting content to the living room, support for portable devices, and reasonable pricing, we believe this is a fairly compelling service. The only thing missing is high-definition content using a better codec, which would make Unbox the clear winner here. We won’t buy movies from Unbox anytime soon, but we’re perfectly content renting from the service.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Movie rentals:</strong> $4<br />
<strong>Movie purchases:</strong> $10 to $15<br />
<strong>TV episodes:</strong> $2
</p>
<h4 align="center"><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services">&lt; Back to Main Page</a> <a href="/article/bittorrent">BitTorrent &gt;</a></h4>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/amazon_unbox#commentsamazonconsumer electronicsHardwareMedia Applicationsmovie download serviceSoftwareSoftware2008May 2008ReviewsFrom the MagazineWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:58:29 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2081 at http://www.maximumpc.comThe Ultimate Guide to Movie Download Serviceshttp://www.maximumpc.com/article/the_ultimate_guide_movie_download_services
<!--paging_filter--><p>
Widespread broadband Internet adoption, not to mention pervasive digital rights management technology, has convinced Hollywood studios that it’s safe to make their best products available as digital downloads. And thanks to Windows Media Center and devices such as Apple TV and Media Center Extenders, including the Xbox 360, watching downloaded movies in your home theater no longer requires planting a PC in your entertainment center (although there’s nothing to stop you from doing that anyway). In fact, you might not need a PC at all.
</p>
<p>
No fewer than eight movie-download companies have jumped into the opening that Hollywood has provided, all of which promise to deliver the latest films fresh from their runs in brick-and-mortar theaters—TV shows, too—over the Internet. Netflix eliminated late fees and runs to the video store, but these on-demand services eliminate the need to wait for a disc to arrive in your mailbox.
</p>
<p>
But we wanted to know how these newfangled services compare to existing technologies, including DVDs and Blu-ray discs and the on-demand offerings from cable and satellite TV providers. So we brought each of them into our home theaters, watched movies on our big (and small) screens, tested the hardware (when it was required), and streamed videos from our PCs to our TVs (when it was possible) to see who best competes with the silver screen.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<h3>Buyer's Guide</h3>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong><img src="/sites/future.p2technology.com/files/imce-images/bigscreen.jpg" width="450" height="415" /> </strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>If you’re going to download high-resolution movies, make sure your display can handle it. We used ViewSonic’s 42-inch N4285p LCD TV, which supports a maximum resolution of 1080p.<br />
</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<h4>What to Know Before Logging On</h4>
<p>
<em>Downloading movies and TV shows is a very different experience than renting or buying a disc </em>
</p>
<h4>Connection</h4>
<p>
Maximum PC readers don’t need to be told that downloading movies and TV shows just ain’t gonna happen with a dial-up connection—this is a job for broadband: You’ll want DSL service with a download speed of at least 800Kb/s for standard-definition content; the faster your connection, the less time you’ll wait before you can start watching. Given the choice between DSL and cable, we’d take cable; fiber is even better—just make sure your ISP won’t throttle your connection if you start downloading a lot of content.
</p>
<p>
If you crave high-definition movies, you’ll want a much faster connection. Most of the service providers covered in this story recommend connection speeds of 2Mb/s or faster. Upload speeds are not nearly as important, since you’ll send very little data to these service providers.
</p>
<h4>Is HD an Option?</h4>
<p>
Make sure your computer monitor or television can handle HD content before you pay extra to download it. HD content is typically delivered in 720p, 1080i, or 1080p resolution, with the “p” standing for “progressive scan” (all the horizontal lines are drawn in sequence: 1, 2, 3….) and the “i” meaning “interlaced” (the odd-numbered horizontal lines—1, 3, 5…—are drawn first, and then the even-numbered lines—2, 4, 6…—are drawn in the next frame). Many people can detect a flicker in an interlaced display, although a good HDTV will deinterlace content before displaying it.
</p>
<p>
Most large computer monitors (24 inches and up) can handle 1080p, although that’s often not their native resolution. Only enhanced-definition and high-definition TVs can handle anything beyond 480i. You should also keep aspect ratio in mind: Nearly all HDTV content is presented with a native aspect ratio of 16:9, so you’ll get the best experience from a display that has a native resolution of 1080p and a native aspect ratio of 16:9. Still, you probably won’t notice any difference from a monitor that has a native resolution of 1920x1200 and an aspect ratio of 16:10.
</p>
<h4>Watching on your TV</h4>
<p>
The service providers reviewed here have adopted one of three business models: Download content to your PC and view it on your computer monitor; download content to your PC and either view it on your computer monitor or stream it to your TV using your wired or wireless (you’ll need 802.11n) network and third-party hardware you’ve purchased; or download content to a set-top box that you’ve purchased and plugged into your TV or computer monitor.
</p>
<h4>Paying the Piper</h4>
<p>
While there’s plenty of free amateur video to be found on the Internet, Hollywood expects to be paid. The services reviewed here operate on one or some combination of three revenue models: subscription, an all-you-can-eat plan that allows you to download and watch as much content as you’d like for a monthly fee; rental, a pay-per-download model that typically gives you 30 days to begin watching and a 24-hour viewing window once you’ve initiated playback; and purchase, the model that gives you the most flexibility (but far less flexibility than if you’d purchased a disc).
</p>
<p>
Service providers take very different approaches to how they implement these models, so be sure you understand the terms of the service being offered. CinemaNow and Vongo, for instance, both offer a subscription service, but CinemaNow’s subscription offerings exclude most mainstream Hollywood releases.
</p>
<h4>Terms of Service</h4>
<p>
We can’t overstate the importance of knowing exactly what you’re going to get when you do business with any of these service providers. Here’s an overview of the questions you should ask, but we’ll cover the answers in detail in each review and in our comparison chart: Is the content in high definition or standard definition? Do you need to buy extra hardware? Can you stream the content from your PC to your TV? Can you transfer the content to a portable player? If so, which devices are supported? You won’t be able to burn rented content to a disc, but what about the TV shows and movies you buy? If your hard drive craps out or your download becomes corrupted, can you re-download content you’ve purchased?
</p>
<h4>Depth of Catalog</h4>
<p>
Don’t assume all these services have the same movies and TV shows on tap. Each company negotiates independent deals with the Hollywood studios that control the bulk of the top-shelf content. We’ll grade each provider’s catalog in our individual reviews, based on the availability of new releases, depth of their catalog, and their collection of cult classics (we’ve posted our complete findings at http://tinyurl.com/yp7w8u). We’ll award extra points for high-def content.
</p>
<h4>Reviews: </h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="/article/amazon_unbox">Amazon Unbox</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/bittorrent">BitTorrent</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/cinemanow">CinemaNow</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/itunes_store">iTunes Store</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/movielink">Movielink</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/vongo">Vongo</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/vudu">Vudu</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/xbox_live_marketplace">Xbox Live Marketplace</a></li>
<li><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C1">Where's Netflix? </a></li>
<li><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C1">Remember Divx? (No, not DivX)</a></li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C1">Comparison Chart</a></h4>
<h4><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C2">Closing Credits</a></h4>
<hr />
<h4>Conspicuously Missing</h4>
<p>
<em>Netflix offers a movie streaming service, so why aren't we reviewing it alongside the others? </em>
</p>
<p>
Netflix is legitimately awesome. For a few bucks a month, you get all the movies you want delivered straight to your door, and if you’re committed to a monthly subscription plan costing $9 or more, you get access to Netflix’s streaming service at no additional cost. This gives you instant access to hundreds of movies, ranging from direct-to-DVD releases such as <em>Superman: Doomsday</em> to cult classics like <em>A Boy and His Dog</em>.
</p>
<p>
But the service isn’t perfect. Netflix relies on WMV, so its video quality suffers many of the same problems as the other WMV-based services we tested, namely, soft edges and resolution limited to 640x480. The service is included with the company’s existing disc-rental subscription plans, so they don’t offer newly released feature films (and they’re contractually barred from streaming any older films that Vongo has the rights to).
</p>
<p>
You can use the freeware program MyNetFlix (the author accepts donations) to browse Netflix’s offerings within Windows Media Center, and the program will even allow you to stream movies from another PC on your network using a Media Center Extender, but the software is Vista only. Netflix says it plans to build a set-top box in partnership with LG Electronics, but that announcement was way back during CES in January—the hardware is looking pretty vaporous right now.
</p>
<p>
Still, the convenience of having access to a large online catalog of back content, while simultaneously getting new releases on DVD—or even Blu-ray for the same price—renders Netflix a compelling solution in our eyes, even if you do have to wait for snail mail.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<h4>Yesterday's Revolution</h4>
<p>
<em>Divx was supposed to change the movie rental scene—what happened?</em>
</p>
<p>
In 1998, Circuit City and the Hollywood law firm of Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca and Fischer launched the Digital Video Express (Divx) format, a direct competitor to DVD. The idea was that you would rent movies on disposable discs that gave you 48 hours of viewing time once you started watching the movie (you also had to buy a Divx player and plug it into a phone jack). If you wanted to watch the movie beyond the 48 hours, you could extend the viewing time for another rental fee or permanently unlock the movie by buying it.
</p>
<p>
Divx ultimately failed due to consumer backlash: Environmentally conscious folks didn’t like the idea of disposable DVDs clogging up landfills, and movie buffs didn’t like the fact that Divx discs lacked the extra features—commentaries and “making of” segments—that they’d come to enjoy on DVDs.
</p>
<p>
The people had spoken. By mid-1999, Divx backers cancelled support for the format, destroyed all the unsold media, and prepared plans to discontinue the service entirely. When you think about it, the only difference between today’s downloadable movie rentals and yesterday’s Divx is the disposable disc—and 24 extra hours of viewing time.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
<table border="0" width="450" id="specs">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="header_image" colspan="12">Movie Download Service Comparison Chart </td>
</tr>
<tr class="header_row">
<td> </td>
<td>Amazon Unbox
</td>
<td>BitTorrent
</td>
<td>CinemaNow
</td>
<td>iTunes
</td>
<td>Movielink
</td>
<td>Vongo
</td>
<td>Vudu
</td>
<td>Xbox Live Market-<br />
place
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Business Model
</td>
<td>Rent or Buy
</td>
<td>Rent or Buy
</td>
<td>Rent, Buy, or Subscription
</td>
<td>Rent or Buy
</td>
<td>Rent or Buy
</td>
<td>Subscription and Rent
</td>
<td>Rent or Buy
</td>
<td>Rent
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Video-Encode Format
</td>
<td>WMV
</td>
<td>WMV </td>
<td>WMV</td>
<td>MPEG-4, H.264
</td>
<td>WMV </td>
<td>WMV </td>
<td>MPEG-4
</td>
<td>WMV </td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Monthly Subscription Price
</td>
<td>N/A
</td>
<td>N/A </td>
<td>$8 to $30 (optional)
</td>
<td>N/A </td>
<td>N/A </td>
<td>$10
</td>
<td>N/A </td>
<td>N/A </td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Price Per Movie Rental </td>
<td>$4</td>
<td> $3 to $4
</td>
<td> $2 to $4</td>
<td> $3 to $5</td>
<td> $3 to $4</td>
<td> $1 to $4 (if not included in subscription)
</td>
<td> $3 to $6</td>
<td> $3 to $6</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">TV Episode Purchase Price
</td>
<td>$2
</td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
<td>$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Movie Purchase Price
</td>
<td>$10 to $15 </td>
<td> $10 to $20</td>
<td> $9 to $20
</td>
<td> $10 to $15</td>
<td> $8 to $20</td>
<td> N/A</td>
<td> $10 to $20</td>
<td> N/A</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Hardware Required
</td>
<td>PC or TiVo
</td>
<td>PC
</td>
<td>PC
</td>
<td>Apple TV
</td>
<td>PC
</td>
<td>PC
</td>
<td>Vudu Movie Box
</td>
<td>Xbox 360 w/ hard drive
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Media Center Extender Compatible? </td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>yes
</td>
<td>Yes
</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>Yes
</td>
<td> Yes</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>Yes
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Resolutions Supported </td>
<td>480p
</td>
<td>Up to 1080p
</td>
<td>480p
</td>
<td>Up to 720p
</td>
<td>480p
</td>
<td>480p
</td>
<td>Up to 1080p/24
</td>
<td>720p
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Portable Devices Supported
</td>
<td>PlaysForSure
</td>
<td>iPod or iPhone
</td>
<td>PlaysForSure
</td>
<td>iPod or iPhone
</td>
<td>None
</td>
<td>PlaysForSure
</td>
<td>None
</td>
<td>None
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Burn Purchased Content to Disc?</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>Yes, with restrictions
</td>
<td>Yes (limited titles)
</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>Yes, but only as a data file
</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>No
</td>
<td>No
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="item_row">
<td class="bold">Verdict
</td>
<td>7
</td>
<td>4
</td>
<td>6
</td>
<td>6
</td>
<td>5
</td>
<td>7
</td>
<td>7
</td>
<td>6
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<div align="center">
<h4><a href="/article/the_ultimate_guide_to_movie_download_services?page=0%2C2">Closing Credits &gt;</a></h4>
<div align="left">
<hr />
<h4>The Closing Credits</h4>
<p>
Here's where we make sense of this whole downloading-service scene
</p>
<p>
This roundup is a study in compromises. All these services are superior to what the typical cable company has to offer—with Comcast serving as the definition of “typical.” Each one is also better than what you’ll get from satellite TV provider DirecTV, which has the same pay-per-view movies, but they’re available only at certain times. The other major satellite service, Dish Network, recently began offering a genuine on-demand service on its DVR tuners equipped with Ethernet ports, but the future of that device is clouded by an ongoing lawsuit.
</p>
<p>
And that brings us back to the services in this roundup. BitTorrent has great technology, but there’s nothing to recommend its legitimate movie-downloading service (although we did find some great old movies for free!). The service is a pain to browse from the couch, you can’t transfer movies to portable devices, and BitTorrent’s library was very light on new releases. We likewise recommend avoiding Movielink—at least until Blockbuster figures out what it’s going to do with the service.
</p>
<p>
If you want to rent the latest films and buy TV episodes that can be transferred to a portable device, CinemaNow, Amazon’s Unbox, and Apple’s iTunes are your best bet (iTunes if you own an iPod and CinemaNow and Unbox if you own a PlaysForSure device). We can’t recommend CinemaNow’s subscription offerings, however, unless you want access to its adult-film library.
</p>
<p>
If you demand high definition, Vudu has the best solution—provided the movie you want is available in HD. Vudu’s image quality is very good, but its SD mode is no better than what you’d get from your cable or satellite provider’s set-top box—and its HD content isn’t nearly as eye popping as what you’d get from a Blu-ray disc. You also need to take the cost of the hardware into account and the fact that you can’t stream the video from one room to another, transfer it to any other device, or burn purchased content to disc.
</p>
<p>
Apple’s iTunes with the Apple TV and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace come in next, overall, but both services offer HD movies in only 720p—and both their movie catalogs fall short when it comes to the latest releases. They require new hardware, too (unless you already own an Xbox 360, that is). We really like the TiVo integration and user-friendly DRM that Amazon’s Unbox service offers, but we wish the company had HD content. If we were to buy a downloadable SD movie, we’d get it from Amazon.
</p>
<p>
And that leaves us with Vongo. This subscription-only service was the first one we tried, and we were sure we wouldn’t like it. Not because its image quality was any worse than the competition’s—in fact, it offered the best WMV-encoded video of anybody—but because it doesn’t offer HD or new releases for rent. But the more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea of watching as many movies as we want to on demand and on up to three devices (including non-iPod handhelds). It’s almost like having a Netflix account, but with real streaming and portability options. If we could rent new releases and TV episodes, it would be the clear winner.
</p>
<p>
The biggest attraction all these services have in common is the ability to watch movies on demand (or almost on demand; if you have a slow Internet connection, you might as well go to the corner store). The only true no-compromises solution, however, is buying or renting old-fashioned discs. Buy Blu-ray discs if you want image quality or DVDs if portability is your main concern.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
</div>
</div>
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/the_ultimate_guide_movie_download_services#commentsdownloadfeaturesguidemedia streamingmovie download servicewmv2008May 2008From the MagazineFeaturesWed, 16 Apr 2008 21:57:50 +0000Michael Brown &amp; Will Smith2079 at http://www.maximumpc.com